Sash-lock



(No Model.)

S. S. NUTTING.

sAsH LOCK. No. 555,017. Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

MMM A ,l yj .Y diy* by inserting a saw between the meeting-rails 'ATENTOrmea.,

SIDNEIT SMITH NUTTING, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

'SASH-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,017, dated February18, 1896.

Application filed July l, 1895. Serial No. 554,610. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that'I, SIDNEY SMITH NUT- TING, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Elgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois,have invented certain ne'w and useful Improvements in Sash-Locks; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled intheart to which it appertains to make and use the same. My inventionrelates to an automatic sashlock for use on the meeting-rails ofverticallymovable window-sa'shes.

The obj ect that I have in view is to provide a simple sash-lock whichwill automatically lock the window-sashes together when one or bothsashes are closed, and which cannot be opened except by a person. havingaccess to the locking-bar on the inside of the window.

A further object of my invention is to provide detaining means whichwill prevent the locking-bar, when the sash is raised,from turning toits locking position, so that the lock-ingbar will be held in place tovinsure its automatic operation whenl the sash is closed, whichdetaining means is automatically thrown out of the path of thelocking-bar on lowering' the sash.

A further object of my invention is to construct the base-plate andcatch in a way to insure fitting closely together and to preventedgewise movement of the sashes when they are closed, whereby access tothe locking-bar of the sashes is prevented, and the sashes cannot beforced edgewise to open a space between said sash-rails to insert animplement for throwing the locking-bar out of position.

W'ith these ends in view my invention consists in the combination ofdevices and in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, whichwill be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to readily understand my invention, I have illustratedthe preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a plan Viewshowing the fastener or lock applied to the meeting-rails of two sashes,the locking-bar being shown in its closed position. Fig. 2 is a verticaltransverse sectional view on the plane indicated by the dotted line :tof Fig. l. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail perspective views of the catchdetached from the sash. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the base-plateor casing and the locking-bar. Fig. 6 is an inverted or bottom plan viewof the base-plate or casing. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the mannerof connecting the locking-bar and thumb-piece.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the iiguresof the drawings, referring to which- A designates the base-plate orcasing, and B is the locking-bar which is pivotally mounted on thebase-plate or casing. The base-plate is cast or otherwise wrought in asingle piece of metal with the apertured ears a a, and

with a cavity or space h in its lower surface,

which cavity is surrounded by the flange '0' at the edges of thebase-plate.

In the base-plate is formed the arc-shaped slot c, and a straight slot dis also formed in said base-plate. The front edge of the baseplate isstraight to enable the plate to be properly iitted to the inner edge ofthe upper rail of the lower sash, and in the lower edge of thesurrounding flange b/ on this straight side of the base-plate is formeda recess or notch d', which lies in the same vertical plane as thestraight slot d in the base-plate A.

The locking-bar B is preferably cast in a single piece, and it is madeof angular form somewhat like a bell-crank lever, but with one armlonger than the other arm. The locking-bar is pivoted by a vertical pinor rivet C, which passes through apertures in the plate and bar and hasits lower end swaged down against the inside surface of the baseplate.The long arm B of the locking-bar has a tapering lip c projectingupwardly from its outer free end, and on one edge of said long arm B isformed an ear e', which projects outwardly from said arm H. To the shortarm B" of the locking-bar is connected an operating thumb-piece F. Iprefer to connect the operating-piece F to the locking-bar by aconcealed loose joint which prevents separation of the thumb-piece fromthe locking-bar, except when the bar is removed from the base-plate, andwhich joint enables the thumb-piece to be lifted slightly, so as toclear ICO a detaining-lip f provided on the top face of one of the earsa on the baseplate. This detaining-lip is in the form of a raised riband has a level upper face and an abrupt side or shoulder against whichthe thumb-piece F is adapted to bear or press when the lockingbar isengaged or locked with the catch. The joint between the short arm B ofthe bar B and the operating-piece F is made by forming recesses in thearm B" to receive ears on the thumb-piece, which parts are engaged so asto permit the thumb-piece to have a lifting movement, which, however, islimited to provide just enough play for the thumb-piece to clear thedetaining-lip f. I do not use a rivet or other device for fastening thethumb-piece to the locking-bar, but rely upon the interlocking shouldersand recesses to couple the thumb-piece to the locking-bar, whereby theparts are connected by a practically concealed joint.

The lockingbar is held or thrown to its locking position, except whenrestrained by the detent, by the action of a concealed eireular springG, which is housed or contained within the cavity b of the plate A. Thisspring is bent from a single piece of stout wire, one end of which isfitted between the studs g g on the plate A within the cavity b. Thisend of the spring G is looped around one of the studs g, and the otherend of the spring is bent into a vertical prong g', which passes throughthe arc-shaped slot c in the base-plate A and is fastened or connectedin a suitable way to the long arm B' of the locking-bar, so that thespring is not exposed to view from the outside of the sash-lock. Thisprong g of the spring abuts aga-inst one end wall of the curved slot bwhen the bar Bis in its locking position, and when the bar is turned byhand to throw it out of locking position and release it from the catchthe prong g is adapted to strike against the other end wall of the slotand thus limit the movement of the lockingbar and prevent unduestraining of the spring.

A detent Il is provided to hold the lockingbar when it is released fromthe catch from being thrown back or held by the spring G in lockingposition, whereby the locking-bar is caused, when the lower sash isready to be lowered to a closed position, from moving too far around sothat one end thereof will abut against the top end of the catch-post,and thus the locking-bar is caused to properly ride aga-inst the catchso as to automatically engage therewith. This detent is of rght angledform, and one of its arms is fitted in the groove d in the base-plate A,while its other arm passes through the vertical slot d in saidbase-plate.

\Vith the right-angled detent Il is engaged a spring I, which isconcealed in the cavity b of the base-plate, and this spring presses thedetent forward when the locking-bar is free from the catch as well aswhen the sash is raised, so that the vertical arm of the detent is inthe path of the ear e' of the locking-bar,

while the horizontal arm of said detent is projected a suitable distancebeyond the front straight side of the base-plate. This detent is notchedto receive the looped free end of the spring l, the other end of saidspring being looped and fitted around the studs i on the baseplatewithin the cavity b. From the straight front side or edge of the plate Aprojects a lug J, which is adapted to ride against the catch to guidethe base-plate A in proper position opposite to the catch, and said lugbears against the catch when the sashes are closed so as to prevent thesashes from being moved or forced edgewisc.

K represents the catch which is formed or cast in a single piece ofmetal, and it consists of the plate K and the post L The catchplate K isprovided with perforations 7c at or near its ends for the passage ofscrews to fasten the catch to the lower rail of the upper sash, and saidplate has, at its front edge, a pendent lip or flange 7s', which isadapted to fit over the front face or edge of the lower rail of theupper sash, a recess being cut in the inner face of the upper rail ofthe lower sash to adapt the rails of the two sashcs to properly fittogether. This flange 7c on the catch prevents a saw from being insertedbetween the meeting-rails of the two sashes for the purposes of cuttingthe locking-bar.

The post L of the catch is formed with three inclined faces which serveimportant purposes in connection with the lng J on the base-plate A, thelocking-bar, and the detent ll. The front face, Z, of the post isinclined. or beveled backwardly from the bottom toward the top of thepost, the front edge, m, is inclined to form the overhanging shoulderand the notch or recess m', and the back edge, v1, of the post isinclined downwardly and outwardly from the top to a point above theplate K', and is then extended in a practieall y straight line at n. Thehorizontal arm of the detent ll is adapted to ride against the inclinedfront face, l, of this post when the sash is lowered and thus move thedetent ou t of the path of the lug e on the locking-bar. The free end ofthe locking-bar strikes the front beveled edge, m, of the catch-post,and the bar is thus turned on its pivot until it clears the shoulder andis then forced, by its spring, into the recess of the post, thusautomatically locking the sashes when the sash is lowered. The lng J ofthe plate A rides against the inclined edge a of the post L to guide thebaseplate A and locking-bar into proper relation to the catch, and whenthe sash is lowered and locked this lng J bears against the edge n ofthe post,whereby the locking-bar andthe lug J engage opposite sides ofthe catch-post to prevent the sashes from bein g forced edgewise.

The operation may be briefly described as follows: To close and lock thesashes, the upper sash is raised and the lower sash pulled down. As thelower sash moves past the catch, the lu g J strikes and rides againstthe IOO ITO

edge n, the detent is forced back in the slot CZ by its protruding endriding against the beveled face l, and the bar B is turned out ofposition by the free end riding on the edge m of the post. When the sashis lowered, the bar B clears the edge fm of the post, and the springforces the free end of said bar B into the notch in the catch, thusautomatically locking the sashes. The thumb-piece on bar B engages theabrupt shoulder f on the plate A to prevent the bar B from being turnedout of position, and as the bar B is thus locked in place against thepost L on one side and the lug J engages the other side of the catchpostit is evident that .the sashes are securely locked together. To releasethe fastener and open the window, it is necessary for the operator tolift the thumb-piece above the shoulder so it will ride on the raisedrib f and turn the bar B until its long arm clears the shoulder on thecatch and post, after which the sash can be lifted. As the sash movespast the catch, the spring I forces the detent I-I into the path of luge on the bar, and the bar is thus prevented from being turned by itsspring back to its locking position, so that the locking-bar is held inproper position to ride against the edge m of the catch when the sash isagain lowered.

In practice I prefer to remove the stock in the cavity of the base-plateA, so as to leave a flange of even thickness all around the base-plate,and I also prefer to hollow out or produce a cavity in the under side ofthe catch-plate to leave a surrounding flange7 on which it will restwhen applied to the sash, which flanges are clearly shown in the detailviews of the drawings.

The horizontal arm of the right-angled detent H is preferably providedwith a small head or knob on the end that projects through the recessedstraight flange on the base-plate to prevent said detent from slippingthrough said recess and the slot in the base-plate and from getting outof position while handling the fastener before applying the same to awindow.

The primary object in providing the catchplate K with the lip or flangelo is for the convenience of locating the catch in proper position whenapplied to the sash and to bring the lock far enough to the front toallow the end of the locking-bar to clear the top rail of the outsidesash when the lower sash is raised clear up. Byreference to Fig. 2 ofthe drawings it will be noted that the recess or -perpendicular cut onlyextends about half-way down the beveled inner face of the inner sashrailand it is made only wide and deep enough to free the upper rail of thelower sash from the lip k' on the catch when the lower sash is raisedwithout leaving an opening or space on the outside of the lower edge orface of the upper rail of said lower sash. It will be readily seen thata saw inserted between the meeting-rails of the two sashes on eitherside of the lock would strike against one end of the lip 7d, or if thesaw is pushed up under the lip it would follow the bevel of the sashrailand its end would strike the under side of the lip,whereby the lip onthe catch serves in a measure to prevent access to the lockingbar. As aburglar might cut between the sashes on the outside so that a saw can bepushed straight up by the locking-bar, I propose in some cases to makethe lip la wider and produce a shoulder k" which projects out far enoughto lit beneath the straight front edge of the base-plate when the sashesare closed. This construction of the catch with the shoulder-lip k 7cwill effectually prevent the locking-bar being reached by a saw in thehands of a burglar.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in thedetails of con* struction herein shown and described as the preferredembodiment of my invention may be made by a skilled mechanic withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention,and l therefore reserve the right to make such changes and alterationsas fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a base-plate of the catch having the beveledfront face Z and the inclined notched edge m, m', a locking-barconnected to the base-plate to ride against the beveled notched edge m,m', of said catch, and a slidable detent carried by the base-plate tolie in the path of the locking-bar and having one end of said detentarranged to ride against the beveled face Z of the catch, substantiallyas described.

2. The combination with a double beveled catch, of a base-plate, aspring-controlled locking-lever pivoted to said base-plate, anoperating-piece connected to the locking-bar and adapted to engage withthe base-plate to hold the bar in place when engaged with the catch, anda spring-controlled detent slidablymounted in the base-plate to lie inthe path of the bar and adapted to ride against one of the beveled facesof the catch to be thrown out of position by contact therewith,substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination of a base-plate having a lug J projecting from itsouter edge, a catch having its post provided with the edges fn, nagainst which the lug J is adapted to ride, and a locking-bar carried bysaid plate to ride against, and engage with, the post of the catch, andmechanism for holding the locking-bar in engagement with the catch,substantially as described, for the purposes set forth.

4. A catch having an upright post provided with a beveled front face andthe beveled edges, combined with a base-plate having a lug J, a pivotedlocking-bar, and a detent, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

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5. The combination with zt bose-plaie, and :t locliingbnr, of ansingular slidable detent loosely fitted in the base-plate, a. spring fornormally holding smid detent in position to have one end thereof in thepath of the locking-har and projecting its other end beyond the verticaledge of the base-plate, and n. beveled catch against whichthe'protrudingl end of the detent is adapted to ride, for the purposedescribed, substantially as set forth.

G. The combination of a slotted base-platte, having i cavity, :t pivotedlocking-bor, :i slidnble detent, springs fastened Within the caw ity ofthe base-plate and connected to the locking-bar and to the detent,respectively,

